Of the total PAN-Aadhaar seeding, which is nearly 30 percent of the total about 30 crore PAN holders, about three crore linkages were done in June and July.

"By August 5, which was the last date for filing Income Tax Returns, over 9.3 crore PAN-Aadhaar linkages have been registered by the I-T department," he said.

According to the officer, the tally is expected to growas the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the policy-making body of the department, has already extended the last date for linking the two unique numbers till August 31.

The government had made the PAN-Aadhaar linking mandatory for filing ITR and obtaining a new PAN from July 1. -- PTI

Dr Bhupendra Sharma has been appointed as new Nodal Officer for the Department of Pediatrics, whereas Dr P K Singh, principal of Rajkiya Medical College, Ambedkar Nagar, has been given additional charge of BRD Medical College.

Dr Khan has been hailed as a saviour of many children at the hospital in various media reports.

A report in DNA said Dr Khan 'the head of the encephalitis ward and a paediatrician, managed to save many lives and the parents in the hospital had said that had it not been for Khans work, the number of deaths in the past 48 hours would be more than 36.'

The report says that Dr Khan not only 'borrowed' oxygen cylinders from his friends' nursing homes to save the lives of children but also gave 'his ATM card to withdraw Rs 10,000 to a staff' when he came to know that a local supplier was ready to provide oxygen cylinders.

There has been no reason cited for the removal of Dr Khan.

The decision came soon after the visit of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. -- ANI, Agencies

IMAGE: Children at the state-run Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Gorakhpur on Saturday. Photograph: PTI Photo

The announcement comes in the backdrop of the deaths of at least 30 children in 48 hours in a government hospital in Gorakhpur.

Nadda, who was addressing a press conference along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, said that before coming to Gorakhpur he had given his nod to the proposal for a regional medical research centre.

During the last parliamentary session, I had assured Adityanath ji that a full-fledged institute will soon be set up, he said.

"Before coming here, I have approved the establishment of a regional medical research centre in Gorakhpur, at a cost of Rs 85 crore. This institute will conduct research into the infections of children and their possible reasons," Nadda said.

Earlier at the conference, Adityanath made a made a strong pitch for establishing a full-fledged virus research centre in Gorakhpur.

"The geography of east UP is such that we cannot win the war against vector-borne diseases until we have a full-fledged viral research centre. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given AIIMS, we have started it. But, there should be a full-fledged viral research centre in Gorakhpur," Adityanath had said.

Nadda said that Adityanath used to raise the issue of Japanese Encephalitis during every session of the parliament.

This was the first time that the issue was not raised as Adityanath was not there, the Union minister said.

He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had expressed concern over the deaths, and was constantly monitoring the situation.

"The government of India is extending all possible support to the state government. The Centre has taken initiatives for UP as well as for Gorakhpur, whether it is the establishment of an AIIMS or an ICMR centre," he said. -- PTI

The Yadav-led faction, which includes two Rajya Sabha MPs and some national office-bearers, has armed itself with letters of support from 14 state unit presidents, Arun Shrivastava, a close aide of Yadav said.

Kumar recently removed Yadav from the post of party's general secretary.

To counter Kumar's assertion that the JD-U is recognised only in Bihar-- a point made to debunk claims of support from other state units by the Yadav faction-- Shrivastava claimed the party always had a national footprint.

He said it was Yadav who headed the party before Kumar had merged his Samata Party with it.

"We will not leave the party. Nitish Kumar himself says that the party does not exist outside Bihar. Then he should form a new party for Bihar. He should not try to capture the JD-U which always had a national presence," he told PTI.

The 'Janata Parivar', a reference to various parties with socialist ethos, has a history of mergers and splits.

Yadav enjoys little support from the party's lawmakers, who are overwhelmingly from Bihar, but believes that he can make a fight of his claim over the party and cause a split.

Two Rajya Sabha members, Ali Anwar Ansari and M P Veerendra Kumar, are seen to be with Yadav in his fight against Kumar.

The JD-U has removed Yadav as the leader of its parliamentary party in the Rajya Sabha.

It has also made light of his claims of having the real JD-U with him, saying that it is Rashtriya Janata Dal workers and supporters who have greeted him during his tour in Bihar while its workers have kept away.

During his visit to the national capita on Friday, Kumar had virtually shut the door on any reconciliation with Yadav, saying he is free to take any decision as the alliance with the BJP had the entire party's nod.

"He (Yadav) is free to take his decision. As far as the party is concerned, it has already taken its decision. The decision was not mine alone and it was taken with the consent of the party. If he keeps a different opinion, then he is free to do so," Nitish had told reporters. -- PTI

Two armymen had lost their life in the gunfight yesterday, while three others were injured.

"Fresh firing has erupted at the encounter site at Zainapora in Shopian," a police official said.

He said as the forces were conducting search at the encounter site after killing three terrorists, fresh firing started from the debris.

The operation is still on, the official said.

The encounter began yesterday.

"Three terrorists have been killed in the encounter at Zainapora in Shopian," Director General of Police (DGP), S P Vaid told PTI earlier.

Vaid said the identity and group affiliation of the gunned down terrorists is being ascertained. -- PTI

Photograph: Umar Ganie/Rediff.com

13:54India should be prepared for war with China: Ramdev: Amid the escalating strain in the relationship between India and China, Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Sunday reiterated that India needs to be prepared on all fronts for a possible war with China, if they don't reciprocate on peaceful terms.

Addressing the World Peace and Harmony Conclave, Ramdev said, "If China was open to the idea of peace, then the Dalai Lama wouldn't have been here."

He said that China has retaliated with a war threat every time India approached on peaceful terms, and asked Indians to answer them on the same front.

"We should be ready with any kind of answer they seek. If they don't understand peace, we should answer them with war," he said.

He also said that China is an epitome of 'promoting war and hatred' in the world, further reiterating his appeal to boycott Chinese goods.

"All the Indians who feel for their country should boycott Chinese goods immediately."

Earlier, Ramdev had asked all the people in the country to ban Chinese products which would reduce their market in the country.

"Indians should strictly ban the purchase of Chinese products. This will reduce their market in our country and they would be compelled to step back," he said.

Ramdev further asserted that Chinese companies have captured Indian market with their electronic goods, automobiles, toys and several others. -- ANI

13:31Pakistan violates ceasefire again: Violating the ceasefire again, Pakistani troops on Sunday fired from small arms along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

This is third ceasefire violations along the LoC in Poonch district in the past over 24 hours.

"There was a brief ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Mankote sector of Poonch district early this morning", a police officer said today.

There was no loss of life or injury to anyone in the firing.

Yesterday, Junior Commissioned Officer Naib Sudebar Jagram Singh Tomar and a woman identified as Raqia Bi were killed as Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire twice along the Line of Control and shelled forward posts and villages in Poonch sector.

On August 8, Sepoy Pawan Singh Sugra, 21, lost his life in unprovoked Pakistani firing.

Till August 1 this year, there have been 285 instances of ceasefire violation by Pakistani forces. In 2016, the number was significantly less at 228. -- PTI

Speaking to ANI in Thiruvanthapuram, Tharoor said, "Frankly, this is a terrible situation which shocked the country. The vulnerable members of our society are suffering because of the negligence and the bills not paid by the UP government."

Tharoor further asserted that the situation in Gorakhpur's BRD hospitals states that after years of independence where our country's priorities lie.

"This (UP government) is presenting crores on advertising and not paying the bill. This is not forgivable," he said.

The Congress also noted that it is easy to frame the authorities of the college but pointed out that what is the Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh being spared.

'Rather than look to conquer new ground in the run-up to the 2019 hustings, we expect Prime Minister Narendra Modi to focus on cementing the success of his reforms and infrastructure projects already started. More focus will be on administrative initiatives and not new legislative reforms on the macroeconomic front,' Barclays India chief economist Siddhartha Sanyal said in a weekend note.

'Notwithstanding his aggressive reforms since 2014, we believe Modi will be selective in picking his battles and deploying his political capital ahead of the 2019 polls. A likely absence of near-term benefits will likely remain a constraining factor against launching new reforms in the run-up to the polls.

A communication blitzkrieg may focus on the benefits of the government policies for the common man (low inflation,anti-corruption efforts, direct benefit transfer, stronger infrastructure like electricity, roads, irrigation etc).

Having achieved some success on the anti-graft drive (over Rs 4,313 crore black money have been unearthed since May 2014), Modi may play up this again, says the report.

'Strong anti-corruption rhetoric is likely to stay at the core of Modi's policy framework, especially given the rich political dividend the BJP has enjoyed from the banknotes ban. There is a possibility of stricter political funding rules, a crackdown on benami properties and progress towards greater disclosure of overseas assets of citizens,' Sanyal says.

'Modi will keep the rhetoric against corruption, including stricter norms of funding political parties, high-pitched ahead of the polls,' says the report.

On the macro front, he is unlikely to attempt any newambitious legislative reforms until H1 of 2019 and is likelyto focus on improving the delivery of government services andease of business, he says. -- PTI

He called the former vice president 'unfortunate' as no one came out in support of his remarks.

"Hamid Ansari is such an unfortunate (durbhagyashali) person that no one in the country came forward in his support. Muslims in large numbers also opposed his comments," said Kumar in Nagpur.

Attacking the former vice president, he said all the while during his ten-year tenure as vice president he (Ansari) was secular and after demitting the post he has become hardliner (kattarpanti).

The RSS leader also exhorted all those sharing a similar mindset to tell the name of the country where Muslims are secure.

"I have one request to him (Ansari) and people like him who feel that Muslims are insecure, they should tell the name of the country where Muslims are secure and they should go and live in that country where they feel secure," Kumar said. -- PTI

Under fire over the deaths of 63 children at a hospital in Gorakhpur over the last five days, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to visit Baba Raghav Das Medical College's hospital today.

Union Union Health Minister J P Nadda will also accompany the UP CM.

Earlier, Yogi on Saturday said that it would be a "heinous act" if the deaths were caused by a disruption in the supply of oxygen.

The UP government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the deaths and the chief of the hospital has been suspended.

The deaths have sparked a political firestorm as opposition parties sought to pin the blame on the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government.

On his visit earlier this week, Adityanath had inaugurated a 10-bed Intensive Care Unit and a six-bed Critical Care Unit facility at the hospital, which gets a large number of encephalitis patients. Thousands have died of encephalitis in Gorakhpur since the first case was discovered in the 1970s.

Two cops were injured today when terrorists fired on a search party of security forces in north Kashmir's Bandipora district, police said.

A cordon and search operation was launched by the forces at Wahab Parray Mohalla in Hajin area of the district after receiving specific intelligence input about the presence of militants there, a police official said.

He said as the forces were conducting the search operation, the militants fired upon them, resulting in injuries to two police personnel.

The injured cops have been taken to a hospital for treatment, the official said, adding the cordon and search operation is going on in the area.

Each year as monsoon-bearing clouds arrive over eastern Uttar Pradesh, so does a pestilence.

Hundreds, mostly children, fall ill with fever, convulsions, and disorientation. So familiar are people with these symptoms that at the first signs they rush their children to Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital, Gorakhpur.

Few other hospitals in the eastern Uttar Pradesh region either have the doctors or the equipment to handle this affliction. And so, the journey of children from nearly 15 districts around Gorakhpur ends at the biggest hospital in these parts.

For the hospital, it is an annual, inevitable, slow descent into chaos.

By September, around 50 patients arrive every day, and the medical colleges infrastructure stretches to breaking point. There arent enough beds: unconscious children, sometimes two or three, lie on a single bed. There arent enough doctors, so diploma students in child health from around Gorakhpur are drafted in. There arent enough mechanical ventilators, even though patients with severe encephalitis often need them.

Union minister Jitendra Singh has played down the heightened rhetoric by Beijing over the Doklam standoff, stating that India was fully equipped to face any challenge.

He said the government was confident about the steps it was taking in this regard.

"We are well equipped to face any challenge whether externally or internally," Singh told reporters in Jammu.

The MoS PMO was responding to a question about the recent 'threat' by China through its official media asking India to withdraw troops from the Sikkim sector.

"I think for us the more important thing is to see what we are doing. I am not here to respond to what somebody is tweeting from the opposition parties. We are confident about what we are doing," he said.

China had recently said that it had conveyed its firm stand to India that it must take "concrete actions" by immediately pulling back troops from Doklam in the Sikkim

section with "no strings attached" to resolve the current standoff.

The BJP leader also said that the government was giving "befitting reply" with regard to ceasefire violations on the Indo-Pakistan border, and was dealing with terrorism in Kashmir with a "stern hand".

On appearance of terrorist Zakir Musa's posters in Kashmir asking youths and students to keep away from Independence day functions, Singh said such posters have come up in the past too.

"The government will take a call on this. The more these (terrorist) leaders come up with such things, the more they expose themselves. The youths cannot be threatened by the diktats of these militants," he said.

Pakistan's sacked premier Nawaz Sharif said on Saturday that he will strive hard to replace the country's old and "flawed" system with a new law which will put an end to the unceremonious ouster of the prime ministers.

Sharif told his supporters at the last leg of his four-day homecoming from Islamabad in Lahore that his party's government was going to initiate efforts to bring new

Constitution and fully support the suggestions put forward by the chairman of Senate.

"We will have to bring a new system, a new constitution and a new law replacing the old flawed system which has been affected by virus," he said while talking about flaws in the existing system of Pakistan.

"Now we need a new law in which no one can oust a prime minister in this manner and for that purpose I will come out on roads and bring about a revolution," he asserted.

Sharif also demanded accountability from military dictators and judges who he said have been sending prime ministers packing home in the last 70 years.

He also criticised the five judges who disqualified him in the Panama Papers case.

"Are you qualified to disqualify me? Every single child of this country has not accepted your decision," Sharif said.

He also took on the military establishment and warned that Pakistan may a face 1971 like situation if the prime ministers continued to be sent home unceremoniously.

"God forbid if Pakistan sees 1971 like situation again. But now time has come that humiliation of elected prime ministers should be stopped. I am no more afraid. I do not fear for my life. I need your support to ensure respect of the people's vote and civilian supremacy," he said.

Sharif said he should be given a medal for overcoming terrorism, electricity and gas shortages and unemployment.

On July 28, a five-member Supreme Court bench disqualified 67-year-old Sharif for dishonesty and ruled that corruption cases be filed against him and his children,

In the midst of the Gorakhpur tragedy, a paediatrician at Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College has been hailed a hero saving as many children as possible.

Dr Kafeel Khan, the head of the encephalitis ward and a paediatrician, managed to save many lives and the parents in the hospital had said that had it not been for Khans work, the number of deaths in the past 48 hours would be more than 36.

Principal of the Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Gorakhpur Dr Rajeev Mishra, who was suspended following the death of 30 infants within a span of 48 hours since August 10, has resigned from the post.

Confirming the resignation of Mishra from the post of the BRD medical college principal, UP Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh said, "Yes, he has resigned. But no good, because we have already suspended him and initiated enquiry of his misdoings."

In his letter to the Director General of Medical Education and Training, the principal said that he tendered his resignation from the post taking the moral responsibility

for the recent death of 30 children admitted in the hospital's paediatric ward.

Earlier, Singh and UP Medical Education Minister Ashutosh Tandon had said that Mishra was suspended for his "irresponsible act" of allegedly delaying payment to the supplier of oxygen cylinders.

They also said that a probe, led by the state chief secretary, had been ordered.